Five questions to ask before you lock in your 2027 PR budget

October is when many tech marketers begin to consider next year’s budgets and plans. That often means simply rolling forward the current year’s plans and budgets - again. It generally works out fine and it all seems a lot easier. 

As planning begins for 2027, it’s probably worth taking a pause and asking whether this approach will still deliver. The pace of change and the rapid rise of AI means that buyers are researching potential purchases differently, newsroom editorial staff are thinner on the ground and AI is changing how the work gets done.

So, before you lock anything in, we encourage every leader responsible for PR to consider these five questions.  None of them needs a long answer, but each one is easier to work through in October than in February, once the budget is set and the year is already moving. The best planning conversations we have with clients happen well before the numbers are locked in, when there's still room to shape the program around what the business needs.

1. What do we need PR to achieve next year?

A few years ago, the answer was simple for many organisations – earned media coverage. Secure coverage in the right tier one publications and assume most of the other publications will follow. Today however newsrooms are leaner so there’s not as much opportunity for story placement.  Additionally, Buyers are doing far more of their research using generative AI tools and LinkedIn, where a post from one of your executives, a comment from an analyst or a piece in a niche trade title can carry real weight.

That changes the job. Coverage still matters, and AI-generated answers lean heavily on it, but it now needs to sit alongside a consistent executive voice on LinkedIn that’s planned with the media program and tied to what the business is trying to sell. The industry is shifting its goals in the same direction. Cision’s Inside PR report for 2026 found brand awareness is still the top priority for PR teams at 73%, yet more than half (55%) now see driving sales and revenue as a core goal, and half named measurement and ROI.

So give serious thought to specifically what you are seeking to achieve. Are you trying to enter a new market, win share from a named competitor, support a sales push into a particular vertical, or change how analysts and buyers see your category? Each one calls for a different mix of earned, owned and paid activity, and a different budget.

2. Who will be doing the work for us?

This is a long-standing question of agency partners – and rightly so – with many organisations opting to switch out the senior team that pitched for the work with a more junior team to run the account.  Today this question has an additional layer of nuance.  Plenty of the work that used to fill junior hours, like coverage summaries, media lists and first drafts, can now be turned around far faster with the assistance of AI.

For buyers, the practical question is simple. If the time-consuming parts of the job which used to be covered by juniors is now being covered by AI, what is your retainer paying for?

Ask who will be on your account day to day, how much of their time you’ll get, and whether the people in the pitch are the people you’ll be working with in six months.  Explicitly ask what role AI will play in your account and how much face time you’ll have with senior account staff who bring strategic depth, sector knowledge and relationships with the journalists and analysts who matter to your business. 

Finally, don’t be shy in challenging what deliverables you can expect. Einsteinz moved from billable hours to an output-based model several years ago. Agreeing the outputs up front keeps everyone focused on coverage, share of voice and the business results our clients are judged on, rather than just spinning the wheels to clock additional time.

3. How will we know it's working?

Coverage counts and reach figures are easy to report, but they tell you very little on their own. Ten pieces of coverage that repeat your announcement word for word are worth less than two that carry your key message to the audience you're trying to win.

Agree up front what success looks like and how it will be tracked. Share of voice against your direct competitors, how often your key messages come through, the quality of the outlets and the role your spokespeople play in the story are all useful markers. Where possible, connect them to what the sales team is seeing, whether that's inbound enquiries, shorter sales cycles or warmer conversations with prospects.

You should also allocate responsibility for tracking where your brand shows up when buyers use AI tools to research your category. It’s an emerging area and the evidence is still settling, but your PR agency should have visibility of the results, even if someone else is doing the tracking, because the coverage and content they produce feed those answers.

4. Is the plan built for the media market we have now?

Australian newsrooms are still under real financial strain as the media industry continues to fragment. For tech brands, that means fewer journalists covering more ground, with less time to sift through announcements that don't give them a real story. The programs that cut through offer something a stretched reporter can use straight away - original data, a spokesperson with a genuine point of view, or a customer willing to talk.

If your 2027 plan is built around a steady stream of product news, pause to consider whether the media you’re targeting still has the capacity to cover it. A smaller number of stronger stories, aimed at the outlets your buyers read, will usually go further. Paid placements can help too. Sponsored content with those same outlets, and paid amplification of your best owned content, will give a strong story more reach. Paid spend also demonstrates your willingness to support the local media market, which is important when you’re building relationships with them. For global brands, double check that the plan reflects how the ANZ market works, rather than a regional version of a program designed for the US or UK.

5. Are we planning for just next year or for the long run?

Reputation builds over time. Journalists get to know your spokespeople, analysts come to understand your strategy, and your story becomes familiar to the buyers you want to reach. Every time a program stops and starts, or the agency changes, some of that ground is lost.

Budget planning tends to treat PR as a twelve-month line item, but the return on sustained, considered investment will compound when you give it the opportunity. So, when you're setting next year's budget, think about what you want your market position to look like in three years, and whether your current plan can get you there. That of course also applies to your PR partner. An agency that understands your sector, your competitors and your history will be more useful in its third year than in its first, provided it keeps bringing fresh thinking and outstanding results.

If you'd like a second opinion on your 2027 plans, we're always happy to talk.